Art of and apparatus for ornamenting metal surfaces



J. RUNN Aug. 15, 1967 ART OF AND APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING METAL SURFACES 4 Sheecs eet 1 Filed Aug. 1964 1 a i Q:

INVE TOR JO/l/V BRU/VAG E a W a A T NEY Aug. 15, 1967 BRUNN 3,335,638

ART OF AND APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING METAL SURFACES Filed Aug. 5, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOHN BRO/VA,

BY V ATTORNEY Aug. 15, 1967 BRUNN 3,335,638

ART OF AND APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING METAL SURFACES Filed Aug. 5, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet f5 ATTORNEY J. BRUNN Aug. 15, 1967 ART OF AND APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING METAL SURFACES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 5, 1964 INVENTOR JOHN BPt/N/V,

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,335,638 ART OF AND APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTING METAL SURFACES John Brunn, Newnan, Ga., assignor to The William L. Bonnell Company, Inc., Newnan, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Filed Aug. 5, 1964, Ser. No. 387,717

14 Claims. (Cl. 90-11) This invention relates to improvements in the art of and apparatus for ornamenting metal surfaces, and is more particularly directed to a method of and apparatus for applying a ripple finish to aluminum shapes.

It is of course well known to ornament the. exposed surface or surfaces of aluminum shapes such as are employed as carpet-edge binders and the like by applying thereto a conventional hammered finish and other finishes in simulation thereof of the type referred to in the art as a ripple finish, the procedure for the achievement of which, speaking generally, varies with the particular extruder producing the shape and/ or the use for which the shape is intended.

A main object of the present invention is the provision of a simplified, fast and economical method of applying a so-called ripple finish to the exposed surface or surfaces of aluminum shapes employed, for example, as carpetedge binders or the like.

A further object of the invention is the provision of such a method which is applicable to the ripple-finishing of convex and concave surfaces, as well as flat surfaces.

In its apparatus aspects, the invention contemplates and provides an apparatus for applying a so-called ripple finish to the exposed surface or surfaces of aluminum shapes such as those employed as carpet-edge binders, which gives highly effective results in terms of the finish which it applies to the surface or surfaces, which is practical and thoroughly dependable in operation and which is characterized by relatively simple, inexpensive construction, and, finally, which is capable of applying a ripple finish to convex and concave surfaces as well as flat surfaces.

The above and other objects and features of advantage of a method of and apparatus for applying a so-called ripple finish to the exposed surfaces of aluminum shapes according to the present invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a broken-away perspective view of the rotating tool head and of the tools carried by the latter, acting on or about to act upon the surface of an aluminum shape to be ripple-finished;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view taken from the front right corner;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a detail view illustrating one of the plurality of serrated or toothed-edged hard-metal discs which are employed according to the invention in making up one of the plurality of nicking tools which act on the surface of the aluminum shape, in manner as to apply the so-called ripple finish thereto; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a typical aluminum shape capable of being ornamented by the method and apparatus of the invention, as well as a preferred means serving to support, guide and guard said shape,.

specifically a carpet-edge binder, in its -movement beneath the rotating tool head and its surface-nicking tools as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example.

According to the invention, a ripple finish is applied to the exposed surface of an aluminum shape such as the aforementioned carpet-edge binder which is usually feature of the invention, namely,

invention are each *of hard-metal discs having serrated or toothed outer 3,335,638 Patented Aug. 15, 1967 produced in long lengths, by causing same to move at a slow rate of travel in a linear path beneath a rotary tool head, during the course of which movement its surface to be ornamented is struck repeatedly by a plurality of so-called nicking tools carried by said head and orbiting at high speed about the axis thereof which is disposed transversely to that of the linear path of movement of said aluminum shape, and whose action is progressively to nick or score said surface at a multiplicity of points distributed at random throughout the same, in manner as to remove surface metal in the form of small chips or flakes. This high speed progressive nicking or scoring of said surface according to the invention results in the formation of a multiplicity of small-area, somewhat elongated depressions in said surface which partially overlap one another both longitudinally and laterally, and which in total effect impart to said surface a pattern or finish roughly simulating the well known hammered finish and which is known in the trade as a ripple finish, in that it breaks up the continuity of the surface into a multiplicity of so-called ripples.

According to a further feature of the invention, the aforesaid nicking tools are mounted at the outer ends of arms or spokes aflixed at their inner ends to the rotary tool head at points of the latter which are spaced both circumferentially thereof and axially therealong. Thus, by proper circumferential spacing of the tools in relation to their peripheral speed and to the rate of linear feed motion of the aluminum shapes being acted upon, the tools will strike the surface a sufficient number of times so that the nicks or depressions formed therein partially overlap longitudinally. Also, by proper axial spacing of the nicking tools along the axis of the rotary head, said nicking tools in orbiting about said axis will describe adjacent circular tracks, the total width of which tracks corresponds substantially to the full width of the surface to be finished, with the result that the nicks are applied to the full width of the surface of the shape and in number such that they also overlap laterally with respect to one another. This axially-spaced disposition of the tools also provides that, by increasing or decreasing the number thereof, shapes having different width of surface to be ripple-finished may be handled in a single apparatus.

The aforesaid mounting of the nicking tools at the outer ends of the radiating arms or spokes also makes possible the achievement of yet another advantageous the ripple finishing or upwardly convex and upwardly concave surfaces as well as plane surfaces, simply by varying the length and inclination of the arms so that the cricular tracks described by the nicking tools as they partake of their orbit-a1 movement and thereby nick or score will intersect the surface of aluminum shapes being acted upon, regardless of whether said surface is upwardly plane, upwardly convex, or upwardly concave.

The aforesaid nicking tools employed according to the preferably made up from a plurality edges, of a type readily available on the open market, being similar to those employed in the dressing of Carborundu-m grinding wheels. As will be hereinafter more particularly described, the plurality of discs making up each of the tools are ganged on a cross pin in such manner that, in addition to being freely rotatable about the axis thereof, said discs are disposed in planes which are canted by a small angle to the line or path of travel of the aluminum shape whose surface is being acted upon,

with the result that, upon the radiused working edges of the discs extending between the edge serrations thereof striking the surface being finished, they will nick or gouge out the small surface depressions which in total provide 3 the ripple finish as previously described, rather than simply rolling on said surface.

Now referring to the drawings in detail, reference numeral designates a cylindrical hub-like member of substantial diameter and axial length constituting the rotary head of the ripple-finish applying apparatus of the invention. Said head 10 is fast on and disposed intermediate the ends of a carrying shaft 12 turning in bearings 14a, 14b (FIG. 2) mounted in upright bearing stands 16a, 16b carried by a table 18 supported on front and rear pairs of upright legs 20a, 20b. As best seen in FIG. 3, the shaft 12, and thereby the rotary head 10, is powered by a motor M mounted on an intermediate-level shelf 22 also supported by the aforesaid pairs of legs 20a, 201), through a V-belt and pulley drive generally indicated by the reference character D The aforesaid rotary head 10 mounts a plurality of arms or spokes designated 24a, 24b, 24c, etc. which radiate outwardly therefrom and are spaced from one another both circumferentially of and axially along said head. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular, each of said radiating ar-ms carries at its outer end a tool gen erally designated T, to be hereinafter referred to as a nicking tool, and said figures also show that said arms are each threadably connected at their inner ends to the head 10, so that their radial projection from the axis of the head may be varied at will and thereupon maintained fixed by lock nuts designated 26. For a purpose to be later explained, it will also be seen that said arms 24a, 24b, 240, etc. are atfixed to the rotary tool head 10 at different inclinations to the vertical, and that these different inclinations may be varied by changing the angularity of the surfaces into which the inner ends of said arms are threaded.

As best seen in FIG. 1 taken with FIG. 5, the aforesaid tools T each comprises a plurality of serrated or toothed-edged, freely turnable discs ganged on a hard metal pin 32 alfixed to and extending between the outer forks of a fork-ended mounting sleeve 34, into the inner full-tubular end of which the outer end of the radiating arm carrying same is threaded. Preferably, each said discmounti-ng sleeve 34 is held fast in both a predetermined angular position and in a predetermined axial position with respect to the radiating arm 24 carrying same by means of a lock nut 36. Such an arrangement enables the discs 30 to be secured and maintained in parallel planes which are canted, i.e. disposed obliquely, by a. small angle out of the vertical plane of the line of travel of the shape whose surface is being finished, so that the short-length 'radiused edge portions 30a of the discs between the serrations thereof and which constitute the working edges of said discs may strike the surface to be finished at a slight angle to the direction in which said surface is moving, as insures said discs nicking or goug ing out small surface areas from the surface of the aluminum shape against which the discs strike, rather than merely rolling on said surface which they would do if their planes were the same as or parallel to the vertical plane containing the line of travel of said aluminum shape.

Preferably, the discs 30 are identical with or similar to the discs currently widely used in dressing Carborundum grinding wheels and hence are of a much harder metal than that of the aluminum making up the shape whose surface is to be ripple finished. Thus, the working edges of such hard-metal discs, in striking said surface, will have no difficulty in nicking or scoring same in manner as to provide the ripple finish according to the in vention.

The aluminum shape whose exposed upper surface is to be subjected to the surface-finishing action of the tools T is here shown to take the form of a carpet-edge binder or binder strip designated B which, as is well known, comprises an elongated shape having an upper flange which inclines upwardly from one side edge of the base flange,

and is upwardly convex. Thus, the surf-ace to which ornamentation in the form of a ripple finish is to be applied according to the invention is similarly upwardly convex.

As previously forecast, such a carpet-edge binder B is caused to travel at a slow rate of speed in a linear path which is such that said exposed surface of the upper flange is struck by the working edges of the discs 30 of the plurality of nicking tools T, as the latter orbit about the axis of the tool head 10 at a high rate of speed. The invention provides that, in partaking of this feed motion, the binder strip is guided and guarded by longitudinal guide and guard members 40, 42 whose configuration is best shown in FIG. 6. More particularly, the adjacent edges of said guide and guard members define between them an inclined slot configured to accept the base flange of a carpet-edge binder, with the member 42 further having edge configuration such that it projects in under the inclined flange whose exposed surface is to be struck by the nicking tools, in manner as to support same from beneath. Thus, as the workpiece, ie the elongated carpetedge binder B, is forcibly propelled along its path of movement as defined by the slot between the longitudinal guide and guard members 40, 42, it is held against any sidewise motion, and its upper inclined flange which receives the impact of the nicking tools is supported from beneath.

Positive feed motion in linear direction is imparted to the carpet-edge binder B constituting the workpiece by means illustratively comprising a pair of powered feed rollers 46, 48 (FIGS. 2 and 4) which are shaped to conform generally to the shape of the binder and are preferably surfaced with a soft material such as rubber, as enables the rollers to accept the cross-sectional configuration of the binder in the gap conventionally provided between them, and also, through friction, to propel the elongated binder forwardly in the path defined by the aforesaid guide and guard members 40, 42. As shown in FIG. 1, hold-down plates 50, 52 serving to hold the carpet-edge binder down at locations just ahead of and just to the rear of the surface area being struck by the tools T may be associated with said guide and guard members to supplement the inherent hold-down action of the latter.

Illustratively, the aforesaid feed rollers 46, 48 are each driven from the motor M by a V-belt and pulley drive designated D extending to and powering the input of a speed reducer SR, the output of which is drivingly connected by means of a chain-and-sprocket drive D to the shaft 46a of the upper drive roller 46, the corresponding shaft 48a of the lower drive roller 48 being driven from said shaft 46a by means of a supplementary chain and sprocket drive D extending between said shafts.

If considered advisable or necessary to supplement the forward-drive action of the rollers 46, 48 in feeding the carpet-edge binder strip being surface-finished from front to rear of the apparatus, a rearwardly disposed set of feed rollers 56, 58, similar to the aforesaid forwardly disposed set of feed rollers 46, 48 may be provided as indicated in broken lines, FIG. 3, and if provided, such will be driven by a power take-off D from the output of the speed reducer SR, also shown in broken lines in FIG. 3.

While it is believed that the action of the above described apparatus in applying a ripple finish to the exposed surface of an elongate workpiece such as a carpet-edge binder B will be clear to those skilled in the art, such is briefly described as follows:

It will be assumed that in preliminary operations the apparatus is set up so that the rotary tool head 10 will rotate clockwise in relation to the direction of feed of the carpet-edge binder B constituting the workpiece (as indicated by arrows in FIG. 1) and at a relatively high r.p.m.; that the linear feed path of said binder (as said path is defined by the longitudinal guide and guard members 40, 42) is such that the binder upper surface will intersect by a small amount the circular paths described by the nicking tools T carried by said head; and that said binder will be fed past the head at a very low surface speed in comparison with that of the peripheral speed of said tools. As typical, the rotating tool head 12 is rotated at speeds in excess of 1,000 r.p.m. (illustratively 1,250 rpm.) whereas through the action of the speed reducer SR, the feed rollers 46, 48 propel the carpet-edge binder forwardly beneath the head at the rate of 12 surface it. per minute and 30(+) seconds.

Depending on the width and configuration, i.e. plane, convex or concave, of the surface to be ripple-finished, the proper number of the tools T necessary to said tools applying the ripple finish are determined. In explanation,

to obtain the ripple finish made of a desired pattern of.

nicks or depressions ona surface moving in a linear path, there is required in the first instance a certain number or circumferentially spaced tools as provides the longitudinally overlapping relation of nicks or depressions throughout the length of the surface being acted upon, and also there is required a certain number of axially spaced tools as provides that the nicks or depressions forming the ripple pattern will also extend in partially overlapping relation throughout the full width of the surface, which width will of course vary with different-width articles or shapes being ripple-finished. In this latter connection, it should be understood that since each tool moves in a circular track, the width of which is usually only a fraction of the width of the surface to be finished, a sufficient number of axially spaced tools must be provided as to provide tracks, the total width of which equals the full width of the particular surface being acted upon.

Also to be considered is that, depending on whether the surface to be ripple-finished is convex (as shown) or concave, axial adjustment of the length of the tool-carrying arms 24a, 24b, 24c, etc. and of the inclination of said arms is required, as enables the circular tracks made by the tools in total not only to cover but also to conform to the convexity of concavity of the surface. But with all surfaces, regardless of width or transverse configuration, the tool arms will have length such that the working edges of the hard-metal discs 30 making up the tools will, upon striking the exposed surface of the carpet-edge hinder or other shape being acted upon thereby, repeatedly nick or score said surface to the extent of removing small chips or flakes of the material making up the same (aluminum in the case of an aluminum shape) from contiguous areas thereof, consequent to the discs making up the tools being disposed slightly oblique to the line of travel of said carpet-edge binder, rather than being disposed in or parallel to the plane of said line of travel.

With the apparatus set up as above being placed in operation, the upper exposed surface of lengths of carpetedge binder or other shapes constituting the workpiece may be ripple-finished simply by feeding same under the rotating head 10, with assurance that the tools T will impart nicks in said surfaces in number and according to a pattern as provides said surface with an acceptable ripple finish.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above described method of and apparatus for the ripple finishing of metallic surfaces without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the herein description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. The method of ornamenting a metal surface which comprises the steps of:

subjecting said surface to the action of a plurality of nicking tools effectively disposed across the width of the surface to be ornamented and which are movable in paths such that the edges of said tools strike said surface at a multiplicity of closely spaced-apart points thereof distributed substantially across the width of said surface and with a force suflicient to remove surface metal in the form of small flakes,

thereby to provide said surface with a multiplicity of small-area, partially overlapping depressions which extend transversely across same;

and imparting relative longitudinal movement to said plurality of tools and said surface thereby progressively to subject the entire length of said surface to the action of the tools;

said relative movement being at a rate Such that the depressions formed by the tools partially overlap longitudinally;

said depressions in total imparting a. rippled appearance to said surface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said tools revolve about a fixed axis extending transversely of said surface and said surface is moved longitudinally in a path which extendssubstantially tangentially to the paths of revolution of said tools.

3. The method of ornamenting an upper surface of an elongate metal article which comprises the steps of: imparting slow-speed linear motion to said article in a path in which said upper surface is exposed to the action of a plurality of nicking tools movable in an orbital path, and imparting high-speed orbital motion to said tools, thereby to form a multiplicity of small-area nicks in said upper surface which partially overlap and in total extend substantially over the entire area of said surface, thereby to impart thereto a rippled appearance.

4. The method of ornamenting an upper surface of an elongate metal article which comprises the steps of: imparting slow-speed linear motion to said article in a path in which said surface is adapted to intersect by a small amount the circular tracks of a plurality of circumferentially and laterally spaced nicking tools movable in orbital paths about a common axis disposed transversely of the path of motion of said article, and imparting high-speed orbital motion to said tools, thereby to form a multiplicity of overlapping, small-area nicks in said surface, of number and arrangement as provides said surface with a rippled appearance.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the total width of the circular tracks made by the orbiting nicking tools corresponds substantially to the width of the surface of the article being ornamented.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein. the surface to be ornamented is non-planar, and the nicking tools are arranged at radii from the axis about which said tools orbit and at inclinations such that their tracks follow said nonplanar surface.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the surface to be ornamented is transversely convex, and wherein said nick ing tools are arranged at radii from the axis about which said tools orbit and at inclinations such that their tracks follow the convexity of said surface.

8. Apparatus for imparting a ripple finish to a surface of a metal article comprising, in combination: means for feeding said article in a linear path at a relatively slow speed, a plurality of laterally spaced nicking tools mounted for orbital motion about a common axis disposed transversely of the path of motion of said article and which is spaced from the surface thereof to be finished a distance which is Slightly less than the spacing of the working edges of the tools from said axis, whereby in moving past said surface to be finished the nicking tools will strike said surface and nick the same, and means for imparting high-speed orbital motion to said nicking tools whereby to impart a multiplicity of overlapping nicks to said surface as said article moves slowly past said axis, as gives said surface a ripple finish.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said nicking tools are spaced circumferentially and axially of one another, the axial spacing of the nicking tools being such that the tools describe circular tracks having total width approximately that of the surface being finished.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said nicking tools each comprises at least one disc made of hard metal and having a serrated Working edge.

11. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said nicking tools each comprises a plurality of discs mounted for free turning movement on a cross pin disposed at the end of an arm radiating from the axis about which said tools orbit, said discs being made of a hard metal and having serrated Working edges.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the axis of the pin mounting the plurality of discs making up each tool is such as to dispose said discs in planes which are canted by a small angle to the linear path of motion of the article whose surface is being finished.

13. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the surface to be finished has non-planar configuration in transverse section, and wherein the nicking tools each comprises at least one hard-metal disc having a serrated working edge mounted for free turning movement on a cross pin disposed at the outer end of an arm radiating from the axis about which the nicking tools orbit and at an angle such as to cant said disc by a small angle to the linear path of movement of said article and wherein the tool arms have length and inclination such that the circular tracks described by the tools during the course of their orbital motion substantially follow the non-planar transverse configuration of said surface.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the surface to be finished has convex configuration in transverse section, and wherein said circular tracks described by the tools substantially follow the convex transverse configuration of said surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 156,611 11/ 1874 Westwick 144-236 282,377 7/1883 Rossiter -11 972,969 10/1910 Wittich -5 1,749,207 3/1930 Blair 29-160.6 1,883,112 10/1932 Tiers 83-6 X 2,293,013 8/1942 Bradner et a1. 144-137 2,504,090 4/1950 Sanderson 83-12 ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primary Examiner.

W. S. LAWSON, Examiner. 

3. THE METHOD OF ORNAMENTING AN UPPER SURFACE OF AN ELONGATE METAL ARTICLE WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF: IMPARTING SLOW-SPEED LINEAR MOTION TO SAID ARTICLE IN A PATH IN WHICH SAID UPPER SURFACE IS EXPOSED TO THE ACTION OF A PLURALITY OF NICKING TOOLS MOVABLE IN AN ORBITAL PATH, AND IMPARTING HIGH-SPEED ORBITAL MOTION TO SAID TOOLS, THEREBY TO FORM AN MULTIPLICITY OF SMALL-AREA NICKS IN SAID UPPER SURFACE WHICH PARTIALLY OVERLAP AND IN TOTAL EXTEND 